Dwight T. Wallace

Wallace, Dwight T. PORTLAND, Ore. Archaeologist Dwight T. Wallace, whose work took him to Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru, died late Tuesday, October 1, 2019, of natural causes. He was 92, and living in Portland, Ore. Dwight Wallace was born on May 25, 1927, in Oakland, Calif., the son of Urban and Mary Wallace. During World War II, he enlisted at 17, serving in the Navy. Like other men of his era, the GI Bill funded his education (University of California, Berkeley; Ph.D. 1957). He received two Fulbright Scholarships for work in Peru (1957-1959), completing large scale surveys and training younger Peruvian archaeologists through his program. Dr. Wallace had a long career as an academic, teaching at the University of Georgia, Athens; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; University of Oregon, Eugene; and the State University of New York at Albany. Recognized as a prominent scholar in Peruvian archaeology, and specifically on the textiles of early Peruvian cultures, he also led archaeological field schools in Puebla, Mexico, on coastal sites in Oregon, and in the Highlands of Guatemala. His early 1970s field schools in Guatemala coincided with an undeclared civil war. His Spanish fluency, developed during his earlier Fulbright work in Peru, was critical for public outreach to ensure the safety of students and the archaeological resources. After his retirement in 1992, he returned to his deep interest of archaeology in Peru. The Cerrillos Site, near Ica, Peru, was first recorded by him in 1957, and was the site of his last fieldwork in 2003, the subject of a National Geographic article (September 2003). A feathered mummy case, pictured on the cover of National Geographic, can be viewed in the archaeological museum in Ica, Peru along with other important artifacts from the Cerrillos Site. Dwight Wallace is survived by his wife of 69 years, Carol Wallace, of Portland, Ore.; by his daughter Laurel Wallace and husband Joseph Traugott, of Albuquerque, N.M.; by his son Neal Wallace and wife Beverly Briggs, and their children Jessica Briggs-Wallace and Nathan Briggs-Wallace, all of Portland, Ore.; and by friends and colleagues throughout the world who share his love of archaeology in the Americas.